Another Lap Around The Sun

I’m not sure where I picked up that particular turn of phrase.

Well, it’s my birthday again. I almost didn’t bother with a birthday post, since I had a post earlier in the day, but, it’s sort of gotten to be a tradition with me, so, here I am.  Honestly, it seems kind of impossible to me that I’ve survived this long, but, according to the actuarial tables, I can still expect about another 30-odd years of life. Which is a good thing because, in spite of being statistically middle-aged, I come from fairly long-lived stock and there are so many things still undone in my life.

I’ll be honest, this year hasn’t gone quite as I’d planned it.  For instance, I have a new job, which is definitely a good thing.  That change has brought some special challenges as well as opportunities.  Of course, that change has kept me busy, so, in spite of what I wished last year, I still haven’t done as much photography as I’d like, or written as much. Neither here nor on Diary of a Network Geek, which is my other, “original”, blog. That change is also my excuse for not participating in NaNoWriMo again this year, even though I did share links relating to that all through November.  My relationship with my wife, Sharon, still makes everything else I do seem more worthwhile and important, though I wouldn’t say that I live only for her.  In fact, the only thing I’d say that found really lacking this year has been her health.  If there was one thing, really, that I would change if I could, it would be to have eased some of her struggle and lessened some of her discomfort.  Still, even that is happening, so I don’t have room to complain at all.

I did, thanks to my blushing bride, save two great domain names, FindMyDecorator.com and FindMyPhotographer.com, which I hope to develop this coming year.  In fact, I’d say that my biggest hope for the coming year of life is that I’m finally able to teach myself some better than basic WordPress theme design, specifically with those two sites in mind.  Well, that and learn some basic Mandarin, which would help me at my new company, and in life in general, from the way things seem to be working in the world today.  (I, for one, welcome our new Chinese over-lords!)

And, of course, my birthday wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention all the other famous people who had the good luck to be born on this particular day. Famous people like Frank “Chairman of the Board” Sinatra, Jennifer Connelly, Bob Barker, Gustave Flaubert, who is the author of Madame Bovary, the painter Edvard Munch, and Wells Fargo founder, Henry Wells. Not to mention, Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues, Tim Hauser of Manhattan Transfer, Dickey Betts of the Allman Bros, jazz musician Grover Washington Jr, and former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch.
All heady company to be sure, but for whatever reason, it tickles me the most that I share a birthday with Frank Sinatra. I guess it’s because he was such a unique and original character who really fought against and beat some long odds to become an amazingly famous, generally well thought of character. I can only hope to do the same, one day.
Also, I think it’s interesting to note that on this day in 1896 Marconi first demoed radio and, again on this day, in 1901 made his first Trans-Atlantic transmission. (Though, of course, all right-thinking people know that Tesla was really responsible for those first advances in radio.)
And I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the computer mouse made its debut just four days before my birth! How crazy is that? The mouse, which makes graphic interfaces so practical and easy to use, is actually four days older than I am!

So, once again, I’ve made it through another year of life quite rather successfully, if I do say so myself.  Granted, I would be hard pressed to name another year that was so radically different than how I expected it to be, but, still, things seem to have turned out okay.  And, maybe that’s the most important lesson I’m learning with each passing year; generally, things turn out okay, if I just keep doing the next right thing and trusting the long-term results.  Or, as quite possibly my most famous friend would put it, I’ve got champagne problems and caviar nightmares!
I may have my down days, but, over all, life is pretty sweet.  I’m not sure what my forty-seventh year of life will look like, exactly, but, if the last forty-six are any measure, the next one will be filled with surprises, challenges and opportunities, struggles, the occasional failure, and more love and joy than I ever thought I might have coming to me.

Thanks for hanging out with me on this ride so far and I look forward to the coming year!